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- I s; 0. NEAL. BATE cfi BATHI-Ne APPARATUS. No. 3 34,674. Patented Jan. 19, 1886.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SARAH o. NEAL, ornnw YORK, N. Y.

BATH R BATHING' APPARATUS.

- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 334,674, dated January 19, 1886.

Application filed January 24, 1885. Serial No. 153,881. (No model.)

true, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure 1 represents a perspective view of oneform of my invention when erected and ready for use as a bath, and Fig. 2 represents a perspective view of the same when folded up and not in use as aforesaid.

Similar letter-sin both figures indicate similar parts.

My invention relates to apparatus for sustaining and holding water or other liquids in a position convenient for the bathing therein or treating therewith of infants or children, or any substance or thing which it is desired to subject to the influence or action of such water or other liquids.

The object of my invention is to provide a structure or apparatus so constituted as to hold water or other liquids in a convenient position for use in washing or other treatment therewith, and so constructed as to be cheap, firm, strong, liquid-tight, easily movable, and capable of being folded or adjusted into coinparatively small space when not in actual use for holding liquids, and to provide such apparatus with a receptacle for such liquids, the surfaces of which surrounding such liquids shall be soft, yielding, and elastic, and free from all angles, stiffness, or hardness calculated to bruise or abrade the object bathed.

I attain the objects desired by means of my said invention, one of the methods of practically applying the same being shown in said drawings.

Out of wood or'any other material possessing sufficient rigidity and strength to sustain the liquid and object to be bathed I construct a supporting frame-work for my bath. I prefer to construct such frame-work after the pattern shown in the drawings.

. The form of structure preferred by me, as shown in the drawings, consists of the supporting-bars B B, of equal length and size, into each of which are mortised or otherwise permanently and rigidly secured at right an gles to the said bar two legs, L L, of equal length, parallel to each other, and preferably strengthened by the brace O O, permanently attached to and joining said legs in a direction parallelto said bar. Said legs are attached to their respective bars at such a distance.

apart as to enable one pair to be passed within the other and tofit within the latter closely when the bars are parallel to each other. One pair of legs being thus placed within the other, and so as to cross the same, and the bars being kept parallel with each other, each leg of the inside pair is secured to the outside leg against which it presses by a pivot or axis, P, passed through both and parallel to the bars, care being had to place the said pivots in position on the same line with each other, and it being of course understood that the length of the bars and of the legs is to be regulated by the size and height desired for the bath. Both bars are now further connected to each other by two strips, X X, constructed of any comparativelyinelastic and at the same time flexible material of sufficient strength to resist the weight to be carried by the bars and legs. These strips or bands are shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The said strips underlie the portions or folds of the bath Aindicated by the letters Y Y, and extend between the bars parallel to Y Y, and are attached to the bars similarly to Y Y, each strip being nailed or otherwise permanently attached at or near each of its endsto, at, or near the end of a bar, the said attachment of each strip to the bars being so adjusted that the strips shall extend as nearly parallel to each other as possible, and as nearly as possible at right angles to the bars.

The supporting structure of my bath thus describedis the familiar and well-known form and principle of structure applied to campstools and folding structures for supporting traysand for other like uses. By bringing the bars together each pair of legs is turned on the pivots P, and its ends thereby made to approach the ends of the other pair until the bars touch,when the entire device will assume a comparatively compact form, and is then folded, as, it is termed, and conveniently arranged to be stored away.

When it is desired to use the device for a support, the bars are pressed away from each other until the limit of separation allowed by Lil said strips is reached,when, the extremities of the legs being supported by the floor, the device will firmly support on the bars a weight proportioned t the strength of the strips. I increase the firmness and stability of the device,when thus extended for use, by a locking device consisting of a pin, 0, passing through one leg L through a suitable perforation parallel to the pivot P, and engaging in another perforation in the contiguous leg when the legs are brought into that position relative to each other occupied by them when the strips X X are extended.

A support for my bath being thus provided, the next step in the construction of my improvement is to shape and adapt and attach to such support my device for containing the water or other liquid desired, and I proceed to do so as follows: Out of any flexible and water-proof material (preferably rubber cloth) and of sufficient thickness and strength to support the liquid which it is desired to place and confine therein, together with the object to be bathed, I cut a portion, A, of sufficient strength and size to admit of its being securely and permanently folded and fastened to the supporting structure, preferably in the manner shown in the drawings, and of sufficient size, when arranged as hereinafter described, to contain the desired amount of liquid and the object or objects to be bathed therein. I next nail or otherwise permanently secure parts of the two opposite edges or ends of said sheet of material A along nearly the entire length of the parallel bars B B, allowing such material, as fastened aforesaid, to sag sufficienlly between said bars to afford the requisite depth desired for the bath when the bars are in the position shown in Fig. 1. I take the precaution in cutting my said material to have it of sufiicient size to project at each side beyond the ends of the said parallel bars B B snfficiently to enable me to fold and further secure it as follows: 1 fold the outermost portions of said projecting ends of said material into the folds or plaits Y Y, which may consist of one, two, or more folds of said material, and carry the same so plaited inward toward the center of the bath until they are preferably supcrimposed upon the supporting-strips X X, already described, or over or in the position occupied by said supportingstrips, as shown by the dotted lines, and in that position nail or otherwise permanently secure such plaits, with nails N N or otherwise, to the bars B B, taking care to make the length of the plaits or folds Y Y, secured between said bars, no less and not much greater than the length of the supporting-strips X X, in order that the material A may not receive any of the strain brought to bear upon said supporting strips when the bath is open. By this arrangement it is evident that the length of that portion of the material A comprising the said plaits or folds Y Y as between the bars B B is less than the length of said material between its other point of attachment to said bars, and that the material A is thereby formed into an open pouch or sack, as shown in the drawings. Any imperfection in the set of the said pouch along the bars B B, caused by said folding and securing of the outer parts of the material A into folds Y Y, as described, may be readily obviated by gathering the excessive fullness caused into symmetrical plaits and securing the same to the bars by nails or any other permanent method of attachment.

The device thus constructed affords a strong and water-tight bath or basin, which may. when not in use, be readily emptied of its contents and folded up into a comparatively compact space for carriage or storing away. It. is particularly useful and desirable for use in the bathing of infants, inasmuch as it provides a bath whose inner surfaces are in all directions soft and yielding and free from any rigid parts or points which might injure or abrade the bather. and the inwardly-projecting plaits Y Y render it difficult for the infant to climb or fall out, and also assist materially in confining the splashing or spray of the water, and also because the bath can be constructed so as to elevate it securely to a convenient height for the nurse in bathing such infant, and the same can be erected for the bath and conveniently packed away after it, and readily carried when traveling. In this connection the pouch of the bath, when folded up and not in use, can be turned into a convenient receptacle for the infants clothing or parts of it, or the usual bathing outfit of towels, &c.

The drawings show my invention in the form in which I find it best and most convenient for such use as an infants bath, and I increase its convenient adaptation for this or other kindred purposes by attaching to the bars B B flaps, to which may be stitched pouches or pockets G H F, &c., for holding brushes, sponges, soap, and other requirements for the bath and toilet, and it will also be found convenient to affix to the said bars hooks, as shown in the drawings, and suitable for towels, 820., to be hung thereon. I also provide the bars B B at each end with hooks and staple K I, so that the same may be hooked or locked together to secure the apparatus in its position when folded up, as shown in Fig. 2.

When it is desired to use my improvement for bathing, the supporting structure is eX- panded to its full limits, as shown in Fig. 1, whereby the pouch or receptacle A is opened at the top, but still presents confining-surfaces sufficient to contain the liquid desired. The liqnidisintroducedinto the receptacle or bath proper, A, from any convenient source or vessel, and remains there until withdrawn, either by simply tipping it out or siphoning it, or in any other convenient manner. When the bath is emptied, the supporting structure can be folded up, as aforesaid, and the bath proper,composed of the material A, will itself be folded by such folding into a comparatively close-mouthed pouch, as shown in Fig. 2, and it is also to be noted that the material A can be brought into the desired form for the bath without folding it in the precise manner described, and that, for instance, it

may be manufactured by the well-known process now in use out of a single piece, without plaits or folds, so shaped as to constitute a receptacle of the same general form as shown in the drawings, and capable of being readily and permanently attached to the supporting structure.

My said invention may also be used very conveniently as a portable washstand for adults, it being in that case constructed of sufficient height to make it convenient for such use; and it may be used for any other purpose in which the retention of a body of liquid at any desirable height for temporary use.by means of a structure which may be readily packed away into comparatively small space, .is desirable; and my said invention may also be adapted for use by adults by increasing its dimensions to the desired size, and by constructing the pouch A and supporting apparatus of such proportions relatively to each other that the bottom of the waterproof material consti tuting the pouch may rest upon the floor or ground,t-hus removing the strain of the weight of the bather from such supporting apparatus.

I am well aware that baths have heretofore been constructed and used composed of rubber or other flexible materials arranged so as to be capable of supporting liquid,and I do not wish to be understood as making any claim to any such well-known devices as are now in existence.

That I therefore claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. Ina folding bath-tub, asupporting-frame consisting of two sets of legs which cross each having its two other sides gathered up and k drawn inward and plaited into the folds YY, and the ends of such folds Y Y secured to the said bars B B, substantially as described.

3. A folding bath or receptacle for liquids, consisting of a piece of flexible material formed into a pouch by gathering two opposite edges thereof into the folds Y Y, and securing such folds together with the unfolded edges thereof to bars or spreaders provided with pivoted legs adapted to be folded together, substantially as described.

SARAH O. NEAL.

In presence of WM. TRAVERS JEROME, WM. COTTER DICK. 

